OTTAWA - Souris-Moose Mountain MP Robert Kitchen is reacting to the ouster of his friend, Erin O'Toole, as the leader of the federal Conservative Party and as the leader of the Official Opposition.
O'Toole, who was elected as the head of the Conservative Party in August 2020, was removed from the post on Wednesday, after a majority of his fellow Conservative MPs cast a ballot in favour of pushing him out of the top job.
Seventy-three MPs voted to replace O'Toole in a secret ballot, while 45 endorsed him.
The vote occurred after nearly one-third of MPs signed a notice that triggered a leadership review.
Kitchen didn't divulge how he voted, but he did say that the outcome was "unfortunate" and it has now put the Tories back into a position of looking for a new leader.
"I supported Erin in both other leadership races. He is a good friend and it's sad to see what's happened, but we will move forward," Kitchen said.
Kitchen applauded O'Toole for his public speaking skills and his knowledge. People didn't get a chance to get to know O'Toole due to the attention paid to the COVID-19 pandemic.
There had been dissatisfaction expressed with O'Toole's leadership since the Tories' defeat in last fall's federal election.
"The one thing that I've found in my time (as an MP), is the moment an election is called, the knives come out for the leader, no matter who it is," said Kitchen. "The unfortunate part is that the leader is trying to do the job that we're in there for as the opposition."
After former leader Andrew Scheer lost the election in 2019, people were calling for him to step down, which he eventually did, triggering a leadership race. And once the Tories lost under O'Toole, people called for him to step down.
"We went into this last election, when (Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau called it, and everyone was predicting that Trudeau was going to have a majority government, and we were going to come out of it with about 60 seats. We came out roughly the same that we were, with the same support across the country. The unfortunate part is we lost two seats."
Candice Bergen, who is the MP for the Manitoba riding of Portage-Lisgar, has been named the party's interim leader. Kitchen predicted she would do "an excellent job," but lamented that she can't run in the leadership race because she is the interim leader.
"I think she would have been a great candidate to be the actual leader in the future," said Kitchen.
The Souris-Moose Mountain MP will not be running for the leader's job. There are people he knows who he believes would do a good job, but he's not sure if they'll run.
"We'll have to see who puts their name in, and who decides this is ... what they want to do," said Kitchen.
Not only is it a huge role, but it has a sizable impact on the leader's family, which has to be taken into account.
"There's always people scrutinizing every step they do as the leader," said Kitchen. "Kudos to the people who decide to do that (run for leader)."
The biggest challenge that Kitchen sees for the next leader will be trying to get the country back on its feet. Right now he believes Canada has a prime minister with a minority government, and is doing things that hurt rural Canada. Kitchen believes Trudeau's actions show a lack of respect for natural resources.
"That hurts us in our riding, and so we need a leader who is going to focus on those aspects, but also recognize this country is big, and there are different opinions across the country," said Kitchen.
The new leader will also need to be someone who makes common sense decisions, and that's why Kitchen believes Bergen will be a great interim leader.
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